Monday 9 May 2011 11.01 EDT
First published on Monday 9 May 2011 11.01 EDT

Wi-fi internet access and other communications are at risk from global warming unless measures are taken to protect them from rising temperatures and stormier weather, a government report warned on Monday.

Presenting the report, the secretary of state for the environment, Caroline Spelman, said that higher temperatures can reduce the range of wireless communications, rainstorms can impact the reliability of the signal, and drier summers and wetter winters may cause greater subsidence, damaging masts and underground cables.

The threat posed by climate change to internet and telephone access is a rare example of when the developed world would be hit harder than developing countries, which are in general more at risk from increased floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

"If climate change threatens the quality of your signal, or you can't get it because of extreme fluctuations in temperature, then you will be disadvantaged, which is why we must address the question," said Spelman, "and just imagine in the height of an emergency if the communications system is down or adversely affected."

The report is on how the UK's infrastructure – from road and rail, to power stations, to water supplies – needs to be made more resilient to climate change.

The government acknowledges that the impact of climate change on telecommunications is not well understood, but the report raises a series of potential risks. In addition to the impact on range and reliability, warmer temperatures and more intense storms may cause communications infrastructure to be flooded, or damaged by an increase in trees falling onto overhead lines. There is even the suggestion that changes in the plants that grow in the UK could affect how radio waves travel.

Transport minister Theresa Villiers said: "When Defra started out looking at this issue, communications were not necessarily at the heart of the adaptation strategy. But communications is pivotal to making everything else work, which is why it has become much more high profile in the government's work."

Chief policy adviser to Greenpeace, Ruth Davis, said: "What this report reminds us is that sudden shifts in global climate will affect our world and our daily lives in chaotic and unusual ways. The UK will not be immune, and the government's discovery that one of the most important sectors for the UK's economic recovery – electronic communications – could be affected by climate change, shows just how vital it is for our prosperity that we curb emissions now."

"£200bn is expected to be invested in the UK's infrastructure over the next five years," said Spelman. "Infrastructure assets often have lives of at least 50-100 years so they need to be designed to function long into the future when the climate is projected to be very different."

Many of the risks to communication, transport and energy infrastructure stem from the predicted increase in flooding, a threat accepted as real by the government. But Spelman said the report's call for more investment by the private sector did not contradict the coalition's cuts to public spending on flood and coastal defences.

"I don't think it is a hypocrisy at all. For Defra, our top priority was to protect flood defence capital and we came up with the third best settlement for capital of any government department. We are also approaching the building of flood defences in a new way." Instead of all flood defence projects being 100% state-funded, she said, Defra will allow "co-funding" of flood defences by communities.

Jamie Reed, Labour's shadow environment minister, said: "The government is trying to have it both ways, promising to tackle climate change whilst at the same time undermining the policies necessary to deliver a low-carbon economy. The government have just slashed the flood defence budget by 27%, cancelling major projects across the country."

The report was launched at the site of the new Blackfriars rail and underground station in London, which will span the river Thames. The bridge supports have been strengthened in anticipation of greater tidal surges and increased scouring. To reduce the station's dependency on other infrastructure and to lower carbon emissions, its roof will host the largest installation of solar photovoltaic panels in the UK. The 600 sq m project will provide 1 MW of energy – up to 50% of the station's electricity needs.